This invention relates to an electrical harness element and to an electrical harness system including a number of the harness elements.
In hazardous environments such as underground mines, numerous sensors such as gas or smoke detectors are installed, as well as various monitoring devices for sophisticated equipment in use underground. Due to the great depth and considerable extent of many mines, the cost of the cabling required in an electrical harness system for such sensors and monitoring devices is high. Due to the harsh conditions in such an environment, such as periodic rock falls, high heat and humidity, the presence of corrosive chemicals and the risk of damage, for example, from carelessly driven underground vehicles, a harness system of this kind must be very rugged. This further increases the cost of the cabling required. Additionally, the need to extend and vary the layout of such harness systems creates a need for a convenient method of extending the cabling, which tends to be incompatible with robustness.